A significant security issue has been discovered in Samsung devices powered by Android. According to the exploit that came to our attention Monday morning on the XDA Developers forum, the flaw in question leaves some users vulnerable to apps capable of giving hackers root level access and permissions.

In a nutshell, the controversial exploit allegedly gives hackers access to a device’s physical memory.

One user named Alephzain claims to have probed the matter on a Samsung Galaxy S III but also found the problem on the Galaxy S II, Galaxy Note II and other devices.

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MMW is usually thrilled to report about record numbers in the mobile realm – record smartphone sales, record mobile ad spend, record mobile adoption, etc. But this is one anticipated record none of us wants to see in 2013. Yet it could be a record each of us has to deal with and guard against.

According to a report publish Friday by the mobile security experts at Lookout, some scary predictions have been made as the company’s forecasts for the year ahead in mobile malware distribution methods, profit-making schemes and privacy threats.

In 2013, people will purchase more than 1.2 billion mobile devices, surpassing PCs as the most common internet access device in the world. Mobile platforms will continue to expand at breakneck speed, as people are forecast to download over 70 billion mobile apps in 2014.

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Several weeks ago, a notification program was launched per the order from the United States District Court for the Central District of California. The effort was designed to alert countless mobile users about a proposed class action settlement that could affect their rights.

The notification went to persons who had previously received a text message promoting footwear and apparel company Steve Madden’s products and events. Given how a resolution to this mess is shaping up, a boatload of cash payments could be headed for a large number of people.

The Steve Madden settlement will resolve a class action lawsuit, titled Ellison v. Steven Madden, Ltd., that alleges the company sent unsolicited text messages to consumers advertising Steve Madden’s fashion products and promotional events. According to the class action lawsuit, these text ads violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act because consumers did not consent to receive them.

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Malware has become such a consistent problem across the mobile landscape that some are calling the unfortunate trend a virtual epidemic.

Although Google has worked diligently to crack down on Malware on the Android platform, malicious threats persist. As Tech Crunch reported Monday, Android’s malware problem has “surged in the third quarter.”

Security firm F-Secure’s latest mobile threat report (for Q3) reports “a whopping 51,447 unique samples” detected in the third quarter, up from 5,033 in Q2 and 3,063 in Q1.

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With all the hype surrounding the freshly unveiled iPhone 5 and its preorder kick-off this morning, it’s easy to overlook iOS and the immense slate of new features coming to the Apple smartphone.

One of the most talked-about and freshly uncovered features is ability for users to “limit ad tracking.”

In short, Apple is taking steps to help block ad tracking that mobile ad networks rely on to deliver relevant ads across various iOS apps.

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TextMarks and co-defendant Heartland Automotive Services have reached a proposed settlement with consumers in response to the alleged test message spam they blasted out to mobile devices last year (see text message on right).

Heartland Automotive Services is the largest Jiffy Lube franchisee in America.

Derek Johnson, CEO of Tatango, says the proposed settlement of $47 million is “to my knowledge the largest in the history of text message spam lawsuits.”

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In recent days, fear has swept across the Android universe as reports raised the prospect of malware attacks and full blown security meltdowns impacting mobile device users everywhere.

But that was then. Now, Internet security researchers admit that they may have been mistaken about claims that Android-powered devices were hacked and used to send spam emails.

Google, for starters, denies claims that Android phones have been infected with a spam-generating virus.

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